Chapter 19
Armin had to clear his ears out just to make sure he heard Gabriel correctly.
"You were in that things mouth?" Jean yelled out disgusted.
"Gabriel! I'm so glad you're okay!" Christa sand hugging Gabriel tightly, not caring he was covered in Titan saliva. Gabriel let out a small smile as he hugged her back and petted her on the head.
"Okay that's just fucking nasty." Jean said gagging.
"T-the r-right w-wing, a-are t-they o-okay?" Gabriel asked fearing the worst.
"They were wiped out, they were blindsided by titans." Armin said sadly. Gabriel whimpered as he lowered his head.
"Hey don't beat yourself up over it, you did what you were told to, it's not your fault." Reiner comforted. He knew how awful Gabriel must have felt right now.
"B-but I-I c-could h-have h-helped!" Gabriel sniffled as Christa gave him a comforting hug.
"I know," Christa kindly said. "It's awful I know but you did the right thing by following orders."
"It's up to us now to go get that bitch." Reiner said. "Besides, I want another look at that ass."
"Really Reiner?" Jean said rolling his eyes. "After she almost killed you?"
"Hey come on, how often do you see a titan with a nice ass?" Reiner said laughing as Gabriel chuckled a bit. Jean picked up on what Reiner was doing and decided to go along with it.
"Yeah yeah, for the record I'm calling you 'Titan Fucker' from now on." Jean said as Gabriel burst out laughing from the joke.
"Let's get moving, we don't want to get left behind." Armin said.
"O-okay, b-but t-there's o-only t-theee h-horsies."
Gabriel said. He was worried about his own horse but he had been assured they were trained to make their way back to the walls if they got lost, also the titans wouldn't bother the horse since they only ate humans.
"Ugh sorry but there's no way you're touching me covered in that nasty shit!" Jean said bluntly.
"I'd take you on mine but our combined weight will slow him down." Reiner explained.
"Oh um you can ride with me." Christa offered. Gabriel turned red thinking how he'd have to wrap his arms around her.
"U-uh!" Gabriel stuttered nervously.
"Gabriel you can ride with me." Armin said.
"O-okay!" Gabriel said getting on Armins horse. The three took off as Armin did a lot of thinking.
"I wasn't sure before but now I know, she's like Eren, there's a human controlling the female titan. She protected her nape and didn't eat anyone, then she seemed to recognize Gabriel and safety carried him and let him live. This person is definitely someone we know, but who? Who would betray us like this?" Armin thought as Reiner rose behind with an irritated look on his face.
Xxx
Gabriel and company eventually arrived at a large forest of very tall trees. They could see dozens of scouts on the trees and flying around patrolling the area. This must have been a rally point. They approached the forest edge when Jean spotted a small pond.
"Hey Gabriel, no offense but you really really fucking smell, you should go in that pond and get cleaned off." Jean said. He rode behind Armin and Gabriel and the stench of Titan morning breath had been plaguing him the whole ride.
"You should also get some new gear, you only have one anchor." Armin suggested. Gabriel nodded as he hopped off and went into the pond to quickly drench himself to get rid off the Titan saliva. Once he was cleaned off he got out and approached a supply wagon to get new gear. Once he did that he received orders to get into the trees and not allow any titans to get in. He came up to see Connie, Mikasa, Ymir, Berthodlt and Sasha whom were all overjoyed to see him.
"Hey Gabe! You're- Holy shit! What is that smell!?" Connie yelled covering his nose.
"Damn it Heimer do you have Gingivitus or something?" Ymir said. "I can smell morning breath from here."
"Ugh didn't you clean off?" Jean complained.
"G-guess I-I d-don't d-do a g-good j-job." Gabriel chuckled.
"Well if you wanna what that smell is, it's the smell of Titan breath." Armin said.
"What do you mean?" Berthodlt asked. "Don't tell me!"
"Yeah, a Titan gave Heimer here a full on mouth to mouth." Reiner joked slapping Heimer on the back.
"WHAT?!" Connie yelled. "You almost got eaten?"
"Y-yeah." Gabriel said not wanting to remember that disgusting experience. Mikasa immediately ran to him to see if he was okay.
"Gabriel! Are you okay?" Mikasa asked checking him for any wounds.
"Y-yeah, t-the t-Titan d-didn't w-want t-t-to h-hurt m-me." Gabriel explained.
"What are you talking about?" Berthodlt asked.
"There's an abnormal that's been causing a lot of trouble, she's intelligent, she protected her nape and killed, not to eat, but killed anyone who attacked her. For some reason she put Gabriel in her mouth and carried him to where someone would come up and she spit him out and then ran off." Armin explained.
"Ugh that's so fucking nasty!" Connie said turning green.
"What do you mean she?" Ymir asked.
"That Titan was female." Armin said.
"How do you know?" Mikasa asked.
"C-cause s-she had b-boobies." Gabriel said causing a small chuckle to escape everyone's mouth. "Reiner l-liked h-her b-b-butt!"
"Yeah can we not talk about that?" Reiner embarrassingly said.
"Sure thing, Titan Fucker." Jean said.
"If any of you guys run into her, trust me, you'll know when you see her, don't attack her." Armin said getting back to serious business. "She killed multiple scouts and knows how to protect her weak spots."
"Well what are we supposed to do? Just let her run rampant then?" Connie asked.
"No, when the time comes." Armin said looking to Mikasa. "You should be able to take her out, if not, Captain Levi will have no problem doing it." The group nodded in acknowledgment, how terrifying was this Titan that they had to rely on Captain Levi to kill it?
"S-Sasha!" Gabriel said seeing his favorite brunette.
"Gabriel!" She whimpered seeing him. She was so glad he was alive but how much longer was his luck going to hold out? First the Titan that bit his arm and now this?
"Uh guys!" Jean yelled. Everyone looked to see a large group or titans attempting to reach into the trees to grab a snack.
"Can't you ugly bastards give us a break?" Reiner asked. This had been a rough day indeed.
"Remember, no titans can enter this forest, Commanders orders!" A scout office called from his beach. "Just leave them be for now if they aren't trying to go in!"
"Well I won't argue with that." Connie said sighing. "I just wanna get the hell out of here!" He was interrupted by loud explosions.
"What the hell was that?" Ymir asked.
"Cannons maybe?" Bertholdt suggested.
"I didn't see us pulling any cannons, maybe we should go check it out-" Reiner tried to say.
"Hey! Your orders are to not let any titans in! Let the scouts in there handle what's going on!" The officer yelled again.
"I wonder what they're doing in there?" Sasha asked. They had not been debriefed on much considering this was their first expedition.
"I-I h-hope t-there o-okay!" Gabriel said. Eren was probably in there with Levi squad. They didn't have long to to think as a bloodcurdling roar echoed across the forest. It was very unpleasant to the ear, it was a high pitched haunting sound that caused goosebumps to run down everyone's neck.
"Okay! That was definitely not cannons!" Connie yelled. Gabriel felt thumping and looked down to see the titans that had been occupied on then suddenly began to fill out sprint into the forest. This was odd, these titans weren't abnormals since they had been waiting for one the scouts to fall.
"Shit!" The officer yelled. "Get as many as you can!" The scouts all nodded as they moved down to engage. Gabriel had taken out two titans when the officer stopped him. "They need you inside go now!" Gabriel was nervous, he didn't want to leave them to die again. "This is a direct order from Commander Erwin, if titans were to rush in for any reason he requested you move inside to help immediately! Go now!"
"Y-yes sir!" Gabriel began to go inside the forest, killing any titans that crossed his path. The sounds of ODM gear and Titan roars filled the forests. He wasn't exactly sure where to go but was informed to stay on the main path. He was stopped by multiple titans who seemed to now focus on him again. He spent ten minutes dispatching the ones attacking him and switched out his blades. He continued along the path as all was now silent. He looked around and around as he saw nothing but forest. Suddenly he saw a scout hanging from a tree. Whoever they were it looked like they were stuck.
"H-hey a-are y-you o-okay?" He asked as he came over. He gasped as he saw it was Gunther, a clean slash through his spinal cord which had killed him instantly.
"N-no G-Gunther!" Gabriel cried. He hugged the body and wiped his eyes. Gunther had been so nice to him! A loud explosion followed by a yellow light lit up the area. He could hear screaming as he took one last look at Gunther and used his fingers to close the fallen Scouts eyes. He continued forward when he saw, her! The Female Titan was here! She spit something out of her mouth, Gabriel turned to look and saw Elds upper body ripped apart at the abdomen, horror crawled across his body realizing she had bitten him in half. He didn't see Eren anywhere and could only see Petra and Oluo remaining. He decided he had to help them but in a matter of seconds, Petra was stomped against a tree, spreading blood on the trunk as Oluo was kicked, spraying his innards across the tree. Gabriel's world slowed as he saw the dead bodies of all of Levi squad. He hadn't known them long but they became a part of his life. Gabriel was fuming, she, killed them! She killed Ms Petra! He growled as he fired his hooks and charged fullspeed with a rigor to slice her to pieces. He didn't have time as another bright yellow explosion erupted causing Gabriel's anchors to fly off. He tried to fire it again but he was struck by the hand of the female titan as she got into her fighting stance. The force of the hit struck Gabriel hard as he began to fade out of consciousness. The last thing he saw as he fell was Erens Titan moving to attack the female.
Xxx
Gabriel came to and rubbed his aching head. He found himself in a deep narrow gulch. His face really hurt, hard dark bruises and dried blood caked his face. He slowly got up and tried to remember what happened. Once he remembered Eren was going to fight the Female he quickly drew his blades and observed the area but saw nothing. It was completely quiet, he frantically searched but saw nothing, he noticed it was noticeably darker than it had been before he went out. He looked up saw indeed he had been here for sometime.
"Uh oh! Did they leave already?" He thought. Being out her alone with no horse was not a good thing. He sat down as he tried to figure out what to do. He then heard light groans of pain as he quickly stood back up. He scanned the area and identified it as a feminine voice. Could it be? He looked over the gap and saw a heavily bloodied Petra, she was still alive!
"M-m-ms Petra!" Gabriel cried as he ran to her. She didn't look good, her legs were both smashed and bloodied beyond recognition. She weakly wheezed, she was clearly in shock from blood loss, her skin pale and cold to the touch. She was sweating and was half asleep. Gabriel felt his heart swell in joy.
"M-Mrs P-Petra! I-it's me!" Gabriel said gently cradling her head in his arms.
"G-Gabriel?" Petra weakly said. "I-it's y-you."
"I-I'm h-here!" Gabriel cried.
"I c-can't feel my legs." Petra shivered. Gabriel looked down to see what was left of her lower legs. It was like someone had stuck her limbs into an industrial meat grinder. Gabriel gulped as he gently laid her head down and moved to her legs. He then felt her small hand gently grab his. "G-Gabriel, i-I'm so cold." Petra whined. Gabriel took off his ripped cloak and wrapped it around her to help make her more comfortable.
"I-I'm g-gonna s-s-save you!" Gabriel reassured her taking her hand in both of his. "I-I'll g-get y-you b-back I-I-I p-promise!" Petra felt a weak smile crawl across her face, she felt good knowing now, at the very least she wouldn't die all alone. Gabriel got to work as he tried to figure out how to get here out of here. He was worried if he moved her too much she'd get more injured. He then figured there had to be at least one wagon left behind with horses, he remembered his class when they said that due to the high losses, extra wagons would be abandoned in the field to avoid wasting time and life. He looked back at Petra and held her hand again.
"I-I'm c-coming b-back." Gabriel promised. "I-I n-need t-to f-find a w-wagon."
"Okay." Petra said weakly smiling as Gabriel took off again.
Xxx
Levi was filled with sorrow.
First he had heard Eren's Titan roar and knew something bad had happened. When he headed for the source of noise he saw his squad, lifeless and bloodied. Gunther, Eld, Oluo, and Petra. Four he had come close to over the years, four people whose skill allowed them to survive this long. Levi knew they weren't immortal and that statistically, one or two of them would eventually get killed down the line.
But all four of them, in one mission? He had grown fond of Petra over the years and she never held back in declaring her admiration for him. He was devastated to see the other dead bodies, but to see Petra, it was killing him so bad inside.
When he finally engaged the female titan he had left her utterly helpless against him. Part of him wanted to rip her to shreds even more but he didn't allow his emotions to rule over his judgement. Mikasa has stupidly gone in for the kill and if Levi hadn't pushed her out of the way, she too would be dead. This came at the cost of a broken ankle for him.
Once they saved Eren had arrived at the rally point, Gabriel was nowhere to be seen. Search parties looked everywhere but he was nowhere to be found. Commander Erwin, seeing a horde of titans approaching, called off the search effort declaring the missing as KIA. It had been ugly, the new recruits all fervently resisted leaving without Gabriel but they had no choice. Levi had to once more ignore his pain and get everyone who was still alive out of there. He looked at the wagon holding the recruits. All held somber looks full of agony. Levi wanted to scream, his eyes burned as the tears he was holding in begged to be released.
No, he had to be strong. He couldn't let everyone see him succumb to despair, it would destroy whatever little morale there was after this absolute disaster of a mission. This had been the deadliest and costliest expedition since the failed Operation to Retake Wall Maria. He gritted his teeth as he pushed forward.
Xxx
Gabriel's luck had finally turned for the best, he found not only a wagon but two horses still attached to it! The horses, having no need to fear the titans, simply sat there and grazed.
"Yes!" He said as he flew back to where Petra was. When he arrived he could see she was unconscious. He was scared that she had died but he could see her breathing. He gently picked her up and carried her to the wagon. When he arrived he went to go lay her down and head back to the walls but was distracted by a scream.
"Help! HELP!" Gabriel turned to hear a man's voice calling for help. He looked back at Petra and sighed. He knew he couldn't leave someone here to die. He looked around for a high branch to lay Petra on. He didn't want a titan to eat her while he was away. Once he ascended the tree and laid her carefully on the branch. He departed to go find the source of the voice. It didn't take long when he saw a scout who was trapped underneath a large log. Gabriel quickly shot down to him. The scout turned and joy overtook him as tears of relief came from his eyes. "H-Heimer! Please get me out of here!" He cried.
"I-I will!" Gabriel said as he ran to the log and put his arms underneath it.
"That won't work! It's too heav-" the scout cried only to see Gabriel lift the log high enough he could scoot out. The scout slowly inched out to reveal a compound fracture in his right shin. Gabriel carefully picked him up and ascended into the sky.
"Thank you! Thank you!" The scout cried. "I thought they left us here to die!"
"I w-won't l-leave a-anyone!" Gabriel reassured him as he approached the branch Petra was on. Gabriel gently laid the injured scout down next to her.
"Petra?" The scout cried in horror. She was one of the best! How did she get so wounded? The scout observed her injuries and looked back to Gabriel.
"I'll clean up her wounds! Keep searching for more wounded! I heard others!" The scout said. Gabriel nodded as he took off with vigor as the scout went to tend to Petras injuries while ignoring the pain of his own. Gabriel found another scout whose entire chest was caved in. They were barely able to speak and their breathing was labored.
"J-just l-leave m-me…." The scout said. "I'm d-dead."
"No!" Gabriel cried. "I-I w-won't l-leave you h-here!" Gabriel very carefully scooped the Scout up and carried them to the branch the other wounded were on. Gabriel continued this process, finding more and more wounded who had been left behind. Their injuries varied from broken bones to completely mangled midsections but Gabriel didn't leave anyone behind. He was getting exhausted, carrying this many people was starting to tire him out. After forty minutes had passed, Gabriel had saved thirteen scouts who were still alive. He looked out and listened for anymore cries of help, his hearing had always been good but he heard nothing. He wanted to go out and check but he knew some of the Scouts weren't going to live much longer without medical help. He sniffled and prayed no one else had been left out there. He then began the process of lowering the wounded carefully into the wagon. He could thundering footsteps in the distance and knew titans were approaching. He quickened his pace as moans of pain were heard from his quick movements.
"S-sorry b-but t-t-titans a-are c-coming!" He apologized.
"I can still fight if it comes to that." A woman said. She had torn a ligament in her leg, compared to the other injuries she saw, she was relatively unharmed. If she did fight she had to avoid using her bad leg to much.
"Get going! We are all set here!" The scout with compound fracture said. Gabriel nodded as he hopped over the carriage and took the reins. Just as he did, several titans broke out from the tree line eager to get a snack.
"SHIT!" Gabriel immediately ushered the horses to run as the wagon began to move forward. With this much weight the titans were getting close. Gabriel continued to push the horses as hard as he could. It would soon get dark, once the sun set, the titans wouldn't be able to move. He could hear the stomps of the titans growing louder and closer as more approached from the distance. He prayed the female titan wouldn't show up.
"C-cmon!" He yelled as the horses began to whinny in protest from the hard labor. Gabriel felt bad for pushing them so hard but they would all die if the horses stopped moving. Gabriel looked back and saw how dangerously close the the titans were. He gasped as he tried to figure out what to do next. He then got an idea which probably wouldn't work but at the very least it would lighten the load of the horses.
"S-someone d-d-drive t-the h-horses!" He yelled. Everyone turned to him as the scout with the torn ligament slowly limped over.
"Do you have a plan?" She asked as she took the reins from him.
"I-I think!" He yelled as he stood up and jumped off the wagon much to everyone's horror.
"Heimer what the fuck are you doing?" Gabriel ignored him as he began to sprint forward, grabbing the reins and pulling them. The drop in weight and the extra muscle allowed the horses to gain speed and slowly but surely the titans behind began to fall back. Gabriel pushed and ran with all his Might. He was so tired, from fighting titans all day to getting knocked out to carrying all these scouts. His body screamed in protest but he pushed on. Humans were the best long distance runners in the animal kingdom and Gabriel was a very in shape human. Those on the wagon couldn't believe what they were seeing. Gabriel was a human mule, his large muscles ached in pain as his vision grew dizzy. Soon the walls came within sight.
Xxx
Commander Erwin walked emotionless as citizens verbally abused him for this failure of a mission.
"How many died this time huh?"
"Was it worth it?"
"They all died for nothing didn't they?" Eren whom had just came to, was infuriated at the comments but a tearful Mikasa kept him at bay. Eren was confused as to why she was crying. He looked around and saw Armin, Jean, Christa, Ymir, Bertholdt, Connie, and Reiner all either crying or holding grim looks. Eren noticed he didn't see Gabriel anywhere.
"No!" He trembled. His fear was confirmed when he saw Sasha curled into a ball clutching her chest. Eren knew Sasha had feelings for Gabriel and her reaction solidified his fears.
Gabriel was dead. He grabbed his head and gritted his teeth. Fucking titans! How much more were they gonna take? His mother and home weren't enough?
"Eren…" Mikasa said.
"H-he's gone?" Eren asked hyperventilating. Mikasa just threw her arms around him as the Scouts endured relentless verbal abuse. Levi, forcing himself to walk despite his injury, he didn't want the public to see he had gotten injured. He had zoned everything out as he relieved seeing his dead squad.
"Excuse me? Captain Levi?" Levi didn't even turn his head as a man came up to him. "I'm Petras father, I was gonna ask where is she?"
"FUCK!" Levi thought. He couldn't do it, he couldn't tell him right now his daughter had been slaughtered. The man didn't get the hint and continued to go on on how much Petra cared for him.
"Personally I think she's a bit young to be considering marriage but-" That was it, Levi couldn't hold it anymore. He opened his mouth to let out the scream he was holding in when a most unexpected bit of news reached his ears.
"There's another wagon!" A garrison trooper atop the wall said. This caught everyone's attention, everyone who was still alive had been in the group that came back. How could there be a wagon. "There's titans closing in on them!" Hearing this, Erwin immediately turned and used his gear to ascend the wall. Once he arrived up top, the garrison trooper gander Erwin his scope.
"Commander look!" The trooper said. Erwin took the scope and couldn't believe what he saw! Gabriel was pulling the wagon along with two horses with a wagon full of injured scouts. Erwin allowed a laugh to leave his mouth. "OPEN THE GATES! ANYONE ABLE BODIED GET UP HERE NOW!" He yelled. Levi suppressed the pain he was feeling and shut up along with a dozen other scouts. When they reached the top they saw it.
"Heimer!" Levi cried out. This kid was truly unbelievable!
"Cannons Fire!" The garrison soldier ordered as multiple cannons fired at the approaching titans. Gabriel watched as cannonballs streaked past overhead and slammed into the titans. While it probably didn't kill them, it would buy him much needed time. He went balls to the wall as the gate slowly opened. He was almost there! He had to push!
"AHHHHHHHH!" He yelled as he finally passed through the gate. The gate was immediately shut as Gabriel collapsed to his knees hyperventilating and clutching his sides.
"We got wounded here!" A scout on the wagon said as teams of medics and doctors immediately flooded the area. Gabriel's world grew dark as his body finally collapsed. Levi immediately came back down from the wall to the wounded wagon. Maybe, just maybe!
"C-Captain." Levi's world stooped as he saw Petra extending out her hand to him. Levi slowly took it and held it tight. She was still here.
"Captain, we need to get her to a surgeon!" A medic said.
"Right." Levi said stepping away as he watched several medics escort Petra off the wagon. He turned to the unconscious Gabriel who had been dog piled by his friends.
"Hei- Gabriel, thank you for bringing her back."
Xxxx
Got some inspiration for this after watching Hacksaw Ridge, check it out it's a great movie!
R&R!
